Rotor blade systems provide lift and/or propulsion for a variety of aircraft (e.g., planes, helicopters, etc.). Rotor blade systems are also an integral part of wind turbine generators where rotor blades coupled to a tower-mounted hub are designed to convert wind energy into rotational energy to drive a turbine coupled to the tower-mounted hub to thereby generate electrical energy.
In terms of horizontal-axis wind turbines, rotor blades generally rotate in a stationary plane that is approximately perpendicular to a ground surface above which the rotor blades are deployed. The rotor blades of a wind turbine span large distances on the order of 40-50 meters. For efficient energy generation, these large spanning blades need to generate as much rotational torque as possible for a variety of wind conditions. To make this result possible, the pitch angle of a wind turbine's rotor blades should be adjusted for aerodynamic efficiently as each rotor blade traverses each rotation about its hub. While the pitch angle of rotor blades can be adjusted by active devices coupled to a rotor blade, the use of such active devices complicates the overall rotor blade system, adds to the weight of the rotor blades, and adds to the overall cost of the rotor blade system.